It looks like its going to be a nice piece of kit - the only thing I would request (sorry if its already been mentioned) is a balanced line out along with the unbalanced. That may make for a larger footprint than you wanted.

I have been using an iDAC for several months now and find it to be quite good. Is this going to replace the iDAC or be offered along side? It seems like it would have to be offered instead, I don't see how this would leave room for the iDAC.

1.) About an internal battery, find a way to toggle between USB port power and internal battery power on the fly without unplugging and plugging. Maybe a push button, toggle, or slider switch? So you could listen primarily on battery power and then switch over on the fly if it got low. (Would using battery power for listening reduce need for the iUSB Power?)

2.) Please maintain the compatibility with Squeezebox Touch

3.) Stick with just USB input for simplicity and layout. Does it need to be a USB3 device?

4.) Stick with native sample rate, no upsampling

5.) I actually like the orientation with all the digital at one end and all of the analog on the other end, I would maintain this (and I bet it may actually be necessary to keep the boards separate?)

This is way cool. I can't wait to try one! (And I am also looking forward to hearing the mini series and the monitors.)

Having an option to upsample all incoming signals to 2xDSD with a digital LPF might open up a never before heard sonic world.

DSD has sounded more emotionally involving then PCM in my experience. The iDSD nano took my break away when I played my first 5.6mhz track. If you are already making the decision to include upsampling, making it DSD could be a better decision.

I quote a fellow Head-Fi member,

Quote:

Originally Posted by earwaxxer

Got the iDSD today - some initial impressions.... I'm listening to The Beatles 1 album. Source is redbook ripped to hard drive, using JRiver with output set to DSD 5.6 (DSD over DoP). Volume disabled. Using the iDSD volume control running directly to my Emotiva XPA-2. First impression was that the vocals are shockingly realistic! Very intimate. Like I have never heard these songs before (I have heard them countless times). The subtleties to Paul and John's voices like I have not heard before. How they trail off on a note etc. Lets talk about PRAT. The timing is so good that it almost sounds like the songs are slower than I am used to. With Ringos drums I can hear just how gently he's tapping the skins on 'Hey Jude'. - This sounds NOTHING like the native 16/44.1. - Very impressed - much more tinkering to do for sure. BTW - its not just the mids, the bass is also very good. - more later....

PS Audio's new DirectStream does this. People who've heard it are saying it's the new frontier... that it just sounds "right".

Wow, just discovered this thread, what a brilliant idea. There's some great suggestions on here.

I would love to see the RCA outputs, usb Input and digital port on the rear (could be squeeze)

Wouldn't it be cool if there was a switch which changed the digital out port to an IN...not sure I've ever seen that implemented.

Looking forward to seeing/hearing the finished article!

On a side note, I'm not sure a battery would be particularly advantageous other than providing a cleaner power source. As clie-Os said (i think) maybe some work could be done to clean the usb power instead, we know you have the technology....if you want battery/portable the nano idsd is there waiting for you,

I think up-sampling across different formats might a bit to much to ask from a device to probably costs around 300-400$. The PS Audio DirectStream retails around nearly 6000$ ,-). But what could be implemented is something like the OptiSample® technology from AMRsCD-777 Processor, which up samples 16bit/44Khz PCM files. Of course the CD-777 Processor is a high end audio device and does have its own price tag. My point is that every company has its own approach to digital reproduction of music and this might be something that AMR is willing to implemented in a modified form into the iFi devices.

I'd very much like to see an option for NOS of RedBook CDs/WAV files. I very much like the way Audio Note (UK) does this, but i gather it would be impossible to implement the "no-filtering" approach of AN(UK) in an Asynchronous USB environment. My big complaint with my Wavelength Proton/Neutron is that it is, for lack of a better term, "sharply over-realistic" and i don't feel as drawn into the music on my DNA Stratus with the MacBook Pro + Wavelength DAC as I do with my AN(UK)CD 4.1x.

I realize that a lot of people like the sound of "modern" DACs, and I don't dislike it, as much as I simply prefer my AN(UK) digital front end for the way it draws me into the music,whereas the Wavelength DAC makes me feel like an observer of the music.

I'm told we'll never see a USB DAC in AN(UK)'s line-up, with the exception of the Zero series, where it has been added to make it more versatile to a wider audience

Just to clarify, is the prototype set up in a way that the RCA out will be in the front like on the iDAC or is that still open to decide?

As you know I personally would prefer the RCA out at the back and the only out in the front would be the headphone out.

Hi,

The prototype is based on the previous iDAC micro and iDSD nano designs. We had to start from somewhere, so our new PCB was designed to use the exact same layout as the iDSD nano for both ends in the initial round. This is not absolutely finalised, it just allowed us quick prototyping as we can mostly rely on existing stocks of mechanical parts and just make new circuit boards.

So far we did not get many complaints about the location of the RCAs. We figured that when you use the line out, you use the line out. And when you use the headphone out, it will be mainly mobile and then the line outs are not used.

However changing the layout to place the RCAs on the back came up several times in this thread already, so it clearly is something we are looking into.

Initial feasibility studies show that the spacing will be very tight, we are still working on this.

And when you use the headphone out, it will be mainly mobile and then the line outs are not used.

We have to say that we quite like your layout and if it can be made to work, the final iDSD micro may look quite a bit like this.

Wow, just discovered this thread, what a brilliant idea. There's some great suggestions on here.

I would love to see the RCA outputs, usb Input and digital port on the rear (could be squeeze)

Wouldn't it be cool if there was a switch which changed the digital out port to an IN...not sure I've ever seen that implemented.

Looking forward to seeing/hearing the finished article!

On a side note, I'm not sure a battery would be particularly advantageous other than providing a cleaner power source. As clie-Os said (i think) maybe some work could be done to clean the usb power instead, we know you have the technology....if you want battery/portable the nano idsd is there waiting for you,

Hi

Some good suggestions here. You are not the first to ask for something unusual with the battery. The requests from Japanese customers is for the micro iDSD to be as good as a portable as well as a desktop product....lots of food for thought.

2. i prefer usb input with usb 2 port than usb 3 why? there are already so many audiophile usb cable with usb2 port available now and iam very sure many of us already own high quality usb 2 cable compare to usb 3. why buy another expensive usb 3 cable

3. ifi usb purifier onboard plz considering 1k price

4. if it's using eksternal psu to power plz provide with a linear psu or maybe linear psu can be a optional upgrade which can be purchase separately

5. if going to battery power plz consider maybe removeable battery for easy replacement if the baterry died.

so we can just buy a new battery from ifi to replace the old ones without sending back to ifi

I'd very much like to see an option for NOS of RedBook CDs/WAV files. I very much like the way Audio Note (UK) does this, but i gather it would be impossible to implement the "no-filtering" approach of AN(UK) in an Asynchronous USB environment. My big complaint with my Wavelength Proton/Neutron is that it is, for lack of a better term, "sharply over-realistic" and i don't feel as drawn into the music on my DNA Stratus with the MacBook Pro + Wavelength DAC as I do with my AN(UK)CD 4.1x.

I realize that a lot of people like the sound of "modern" DACs, and I don't dislike it, as much as I simply prefer my AN(UK) digital front end for the way it draws me into the music,whereas the Wavelength DAC makes me feel like an observer of the music.

I'm told we'll never see a USB DAC in AN(UK)'s line-up, with the exception of the Zero series, where it has been added to make it more versatile to a wider audience

Hi,

AMR, the parent company of iFi already has the 77 and 777 CDPs/DACs that execute NOS.

For the micro iDSD, this is something we believe would be very well-received for sonic reasons.

2. i prefer usb input with usb 2 port than usb 3 why? there are already so many audiophile usb cable with usb2 port available now and iam very sure many of us already own high quality usb 2 cable compare to usb 3. why buy another expensive usb 3 cable

3. ifi usb purifier onboard plz considering 1k price

4. if it's using eksternal psu to power plz provide with a linear psu or maybe linear psu can be a optional upgrade which can be purchase separately

5. if going to battery power plz consider maybe removeable battery for easy replacement if the baterry died.

so we can just buy a new battery from ifi to replace the old ones without sending back to ifi

6. upgradeable firmware for future feature

Hi

Taking your questions in order:

1. RCAs is standard across the range - yes, can feed active speakers.

2. USB3.0 port design is already backwards compatible with USB2.0. So you get the best of both worlds.

3. This Crowd-Design for the "micro" iDSD. As such it is aimed at ~Euro400 level. The US$1k is the "mini" which is to be found here: